News archive from 7 May 2014

Oil and gas services giant Wood Group is to cut contractors' pay rates by 10 per cent from the start of next month, blaming "cost and resourcing challenges" in the North Sea.
The Aberdeen-based firm said its PSN division, which builds and...

WEIR Oil & Gas and the Rolls-Royce Power Systems company MTU are joining forces to form a fracking venture that they hope will become a market leader in helping source new supplies of gas.
The two British engineering firms plan to combine their...

Fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management has rejected analyst claims that its £550 million acquisition of rival Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) will be a "disaster" after posting a fall in first-half profits as clients moved...

PERHAPS it won't be a walkover after all. UK drugs major AstraZeneca has come out with punchy sales forecasts in its attempt to ward off the takeover attentions of Pfizer of the United States.
And, although nothing is by any means guaranteed, the UK...

People who are more willing to take risks are more likely to vote Yes in Scotland's referendum, researchers at Stirling University have found.
A paper, published today by Professors David Bell and Liam Delaney, and researcher Michael McGoldrick,...

Failing schools should be targeted for direct intervention to tackle the yawning gap between rich and poor in Scotland's classrooms, a new Labour report said.
Extra cash and top teachers should be diverted into schools, alongside a national strategy...

A NEW inquest has opened in Zimbabwe into the "suspicious" death of a former Scottish SAS officer after his family urged the authorities to reopen the &#8232;investigation.
Glasgow-born Robert Wood, 54, was found dead in the spare room...

THAILAND'S prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has appeared in court in Bangkok charged with abuse of power.
The Constitutional Court is expected to issue a ruling today that could remove her from office, raising the possibility that the Thai legal...

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine were due to meet in Vienna last night to try to resolve the crisis in eastern Ukraine that has left an estimated 34 dead in a series of clashes this week between government and separatists forces.
Sergei...

SHE was the intern whose dalliance with the most powerful man in the world proved the White House was anything but whiter than white.
Now, nearly two decades after her notorious tryst with then-president Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky has decided to...

Siemens has unveiled a plan to focus on the growth fields of electrification, automation and digitalisation dubbed 'Vision 2020'. Photograph: Uwe Lein/AP German engineering firm Siemens on Tuesday announced it would buy the energy production arm of...

Borders MP Michael Moore debated independence with an audience of nearly 80 people at the Parish Church Hall in Eyemouth.
The event was part of The Road to Referendum campaign, which sees Mr Moore holding a series of open public meetings across the...

Comedian Freddie Starr will not be prosecuted over sex crime allegations after spending 18 months on bail.
The 71-year-old was first arrested in November 2012 by detectives from sex-crime inquiry Operation Yewtree, and was rebailed several times.
The...

THE humble Mini has been confirmed as the best British car ever built in a new poll out today.
The original model, launched 55 years ago, beat other designs like the Jaguar E-type and Range Rover to top the Autocar magazine survey for a second time....

MPs have quizzed Vince Cable on how he can be sure promises given by Pfizer would be kept if the company takes over AstraZeneca.
Politicians fearful of the outcome of any deal bombarded the Business Secretary in the Commons yesterday with queries...